Ummagumma - Pink Floyd

Advantages: Floyd, Cannabis, experimental, WOW
Disadvantages: Can be a little too odd for some

UmmaGumma is a double album from Pink Floyd in 1969, whilst the summer of love was in full flow from this album.. well it looks as if Pink Floyd were just really, really, really stoned! It’s a really interesting album though and I think the idea is pretty excellent. Basically there is a live album and a studio album. The Studio album is split into four sections effectively, one for each of the Pink Floyd members to do their ‘own’ piece. This album ...
...for more than an album. UmmaGumma was no different! The two CDs are, in my opinion, thankfully in two separate case. I always seem to break the ones that whole two CDs in one small case, but actually there is something more fundamental going on here. Perhaps I’m just too Pink Floyded (not stoned, but rather finding a meaning for every single little thing that Floyd did, even the mistakes tend to have a meaning and have been made on purpose! It’s ... Read review

Advantages: The Live Album
Disadvantages: The Studio Album

Pink Floyd's Ummagumma is a double album consisting of a studio album and a live one. It's quite expensive but really is worth it if you're into post Barrett, pre Dark side ... Floyd. Live albums have had bad press ever since they were invented, but recently they have beceom a good way of measuring wheather a successful band can really cut it. I would point to Radiohead's 'I might be wrong' to prove this, while Stereophonics 'Day At The Races' proves ...
...Pink Floyd, while at the top of their creative powers released this double album. After their previous couple of albums it shows how far they had come since 'Piper at the gate of dawn' and for anyone wishing to hear the real Pink Floyd the live album is essential. But let me start with the studio album. Oh dear. I like progressive music, in fact most people think i'm crazy because of the wierd music I listen to. But this goes too far. I won't analyse ... Read review

Advantages: The Live Album
Disadvantages: The Studio Album

The first time Floyd's self indulgence got the better of them. It's a double album (that never usually bodes well), consisting of a live album (Oh no) and then a studio album where each member of the band is allowed to express their artistic integrity (Oh my god, Works by ELP anyone). The live album is worth five stars, so if they had split the set it would have been easy to rate. It consists of four extended versions of studio tracks all of which ...
...of Astronomy Domine from the first album ,A Saucerful of Secrets and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun from their second album and Careful With That Axe Eugene which was a single B Side. The studio album is much what you would expect, only Dave Gilmour's (Guitars) Narrow Way salvaging any respect. Nick Mason's (Drums) Grand Viziers Party is boring, Rick Wright's (Keyboards)Stockhausen-esque Sysyphus is pretentious bombast and Roger Waters' ... Read review

Advantages: This is where the Floyd started their musical journey post Syd Barrett.
Disadvantages: Can be hard to take it all in on the first listen.

Ahhh Ummagumma... This album could strike fear for the uninitiated as this album is the Floyd's most experimental. What we have is two discs - the live side and the studio side - the latter, where each member of the band indulges themselves musically if not at all successfully! The live disc is superb and shows the Floyd playing to their strengths. Here they practically invent the space rock genre and send you to the outer limits of the milky way ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic, Cohesive Album
Disadvantages: Ummmmmm

...tracks, an greatest example being their earlier album Ummagumma which featured a four part and 2 three part tracks!) This track provides a typical Pink Floyd opening i.e. no sound audible with the volume control at normal for the first 20 seconds or so. This means that when you turn up the volume just to check if the disc is working, you are suddenly hit with the full force of the opening chord. By now I’ve just learnt that it is best to leave the volume set up high and sit back and enjoy. The track meanders its way through the typical electronica landscapes used by the band, and features the haunting sax of Dick Parry throughout. The middle part of the album is taken up by the Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar – both louder angrier tracks which show their frustration with the cut-throat world and shows how they despise... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Ground breaking, unique
Disadvantages: not a good background music CD

..., vocals) Nick Mason (drums) Additional Musicians: Ron Geesin (Orchestrations) The John Aldiss Choir (vocals). Pink Floyd have by this time come out with at least 2 albums worthy of noting, ‘Ummagumma’ and ‘the Piper at the gates of dawn’ Atom Heart Mother is a wonderfully engineered Album, bringing together, vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesisers, drums and lots more which will be explained as I go through the tracks! The album for me means a lot – it is a fantastic ‘listening to’ CD but crap ‘background music’ I love to listen to it quite loud in a darkened room with a few beers and let the music take me on its journey, and what a journey it is, it takes me through the sad paces (if I’m melancholy – oh god! I’m using hippy words!!) I even tear up a bit. It takes me to the happy places and it even takes you through the places that leave... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A couple of songs are quite good.
Disadvantages: Confused, discordant and bland.

...of Reason,' though both show a band in a decade of unmistakable decline. The only Pink Floyd album that's probably less appealing is the studio disc of 1969's 'Ummagumma,' which is really, really terrible and even something of an embarrassment for those involved. A momentary lapse of reason by a young and stupid band, before they became old and rich and should have known better. By 1987, there were plenty of bands imitating the Pink Floyd sound and achieving far greater results than this.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful